


Elegy for a Dead Robin

by Noblehunter



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Jason Todd is Dead, M/M, Suicide, Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noblehunter/pseuds/Noblehunter
Summary: Jason comes to Tim in dreams. For the first time in his life, Tim is never alone.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	Elegy for a Dead Robin

**Author's Note:**

> If you want Jason explained, see the end note.

The first night Tim stayed in the Manor, he dreamed of Jason. Robin came into his room with his roguish smile and took Tim into his arms.

“You’re all I have." Robin says. "Promise me you’ll never leave. Promise me that I’ll always be safe with you.”

He doesn't dream of Jason every night but often enough that Tim never has time to miss him. He seems to know when Tim needs reassurance, appearing in dreams to tell Tim that he's done the right thing, that he's living up to the legacy, and he can be the Robin Jason needs him to be.

After he moves into the Manor, Tim never feels alone. Jason is never more than a nap away. At first, it seemed too silly to mention his dreams. As they become erotically charged, too private. Even if it is annoying to keep making excuses to Dick about why he isn't dating. Jason is the almost perfect boyfriend.

It's when Jason asks Tim to find him that things start going awry. Jason was only a dream, right? How could Tim find him? But Jason is gently insistent, coming every night to plead with him. Tim isn't certain he's not going crazy but he can't resist Jason forever. Even after he agrees, he isn't sure what to do. How can he find Jason if he doesn't know where to look?

It seems he only needed to agree because after that Jason is everywhere: leaning against a lamp post by the Museum, sitting on the steps of the library, loitering in the school parking lot. Finally, he's knocking on the door of the manor. The reunion and suspicions and tearful joy lasts for hours. It's only after Jason has been allowed to go to bed that Tim can sneak in and find comfort in Jason's arms, falling asleep comforted by the familiar smell of incense

They keep their relationship secret as best they can. It seems to take its toll on Tim, the secrecy and sneaking about, the late nights and hours stolen from sleep. At first, it's just fatigue and clumsiness but then it's vertigo and weakness. When Tim almost falls on patrol, Jason can't conceal his concern. Bruce can't help but notice. The former secrecy of their relationship is overshadowed by Tim's accident and their deception is forgiven in exchange for letting Tim take it easy.

Tim's not sure what tips Bruce off. Maybe it was Tim's lingering weakness. Maybe it was how Tim stared at Jason adoringly in every idle moment. Maybe it was the way Jason himself seemed to fade their thoughts whenever he wasn't around. Whatever it was, he confronts Tim in the Cave when Jason is supposedly out on patrol.

Some of the evidence, Tim can see. The smell of incense that lingers about Jason. How no one can find Jason when he isn't with Tim or how Tim's been sick ever since Jason came back. It seems like flimsy evidence for such an impossible claim but when Jason comes home, vertically slit pupils widening in concern, it doesn't seem so impossible.

The book with the awful woodcuts are clear about the solution. The being which called itself Jason could be driven away if Tim firmly rejected him. Without Tim's life to draw on, the incubus would fade away. In time, Tim wouldn't even remember him. With Jason right in front of him, it's time for Tim to do what needs to be done.

Jason smiles at him and the world seems brighter. There's is no one in the world who loves Tim like Jason does. Since Robin came into his dreams, Tim has never been alone, never been abandoned in empty house or never had to doubt if anyone cared for him. The words stick in his throat. He can't do it. Tim can't kill Robin, even if it means he's going to die.

Jason overhears the argument. Dick and Bruce resort to shouting when reason fails. He stares at Tim with inhuman eyes and growing horror. Tim pleads with him not to believe them, that Dick and Bruce don't know what they're talking about. They can leave, find somewhere they can be together and not have to worry about what other people think. Jason turns and flees into the night.

For the next week, Tim is inconsolable. He can't stop sobbing and rarely leaves his bed. Bruce and Dick and Alfred attempt to comfort him, explaining that it wasn't Jason--had never been Jason--and it was for the best. Tim's despair overwhelms them and soon he was left to his tears. When Tim receives a message from Jason to meet him on top of Wayne Tower, Tim sneaks away with ease.

The winds on top of Wayne Tower whip away any of the scent of incense that Tim longs for. Jason stands at the edge of the roof and looks out over the city. Tim steps up next to him and leans against his shoulder. Jason turns and kisses him and for a moment, Tim believes everything will be okay.

Then Jason says, "I'm not here, Tim." He doesn't look at Tim, even though Tim stares at him with wide eyes.

"I know what I'm doing to you." The wind should take Jason's words away but Tim can hear him clearly. "I'm not going to kill you."

"I'm not going to kill you," Tim retorts. "I love you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Jason smiles sadly. "You're everything to me. You never left and you kept me safe. I love you more than life itself."

"Stay with me," Tim begs. "Don't leave like everyone else."

"I've never been here, baby bird. I'm just a dream that got too big. You won't even remember me when I'm gone."

"I will," Tim swears, tears in his eyes and in his voice. "I'll remember you every day and miss you. I'll pine away and die. Don't you dare leave, Jason. I can't do this without my Robin."

"I'm not here," Jason says. "Say goodbye to dad and dickhead for me."

Jason steps into open air and falls.

Tim misses his grab and stares after Jason all the way down until he's alone with tears drying on his cheeks.

**Author's Note:**

> Incubus!Jason. He's feeding on Tim and it's going to kill him.
> 
> Based on "Elegy for a Demon Lover" in The Bone Key by Sarah Monette.


End file.
